Love Boat: The Next Wave
Developer
Starring
Open theme"The Love Boat" performed by Paul Williams
ComposerKevin Kiner
Theme music composerCharles Fox
Num seasons2
Num episodes25
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Executive producer
Runtime60 minutes
CompanySpelling Television
NetworkUPN
First airedApril 13, 1998
Last airedMay 21, 1999
RelatedThe Love Boat

Love Boat: The Next Wave is an American comedy television series that aired on UPN from April 13, 1998, to May 21, 1999. It was a revival of the original run of the ABC series The Love Boat from 1977 to 1986.

Plot

Set aboard the cruise ship Sun Princess, the series starred Robert Urich as Captain Jim Kennedy, a retired and divorced U.S. Navy officer with a teen-aged son, Danny (Kyle Howard). Phil Morris played Chief Purser Will Sanders, and Joan Severance played Security Chief Camille Hunter.[1]

"Reunion" episode

A reunion-themed episode reunited some cast members of the original The Love Boat[2]Gavin MacLeod (Captain Stubing), Bernie Kopell (Dr. Adam "Doc" Bricker), Ted Lange (Isaac Washington), Jill Whelan (Vicki Stubing) and Lauren Tewes (Julie McCoy). This episode revealed that Julie and "Doc" had been in love all along.[3]

Cast

Main

Recurring

Reception

Carole Horst of Variety called it "a pleasant one-hour trip" that will appeal to fans of the original show.[4] However, in his review, Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly gave the show a grade of D+.[5] The Baltimore Sun's review of the pilot deemed it "titanically bad" and said, "This is the worst series of the entire television season."[6]

References

  1. ^ King, Susan (April 11, 1998). "Urich Happy to Be Captain of Relaunched 'Love Boat'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2017-05-28.
  2. ^ Snierson, Dan (September 7, 2007). ""The Love Boat" flashback". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2017-05-28. ...and the cast reunited on a 1998 episode of Love Boat: The Next Wave, UPN's unsuccessful franchise relaunch.
  3. ^ Mitchelmore, Pam (2005). "Reunion", Love Boat: The Next Wave. Epguides.com.
  4. ^ Horst, Carole (April 9, 1998). "Review: The Love Boat: The Next Wave". Variety. Retrieved 2016-11-04.
  5. ^ Tucker, Ken (April 17, 1998). "The Love Boat: The Next Wave". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2017-05-28.
  6. ^ "'The Love Boat' resurfaces Preview: And this reincarnation of the kitschy '80s series is titanically bad.". Baltimore Sun. 1998-04-13. Retrieved 2026-01-09.